The Nimbus Incident
by A Certified BAMF
Summary: When Planet Express suddenly gets commandeered by the DOOP for an emergency supply and troop transport, Fry, Leela, and Amy find themselves stuck on the Nimbus when their ship crashes into the flight deck. But when they find the deck crew slaughtered, they must team up with a platoon of rag-tag Marines as they face the horrors that have been unleashed upon the ship and her crew.


Hello Everyone! Tis I A Certified BAMF and I am back on the air. Or...well on the net. You get the idea. So I have a new story I am beginning. As for my other ones, well, A New beginning I plan on finishing. Omega 13...I dunno. I've got a chapter for it, but its all over the place and nothing seems to work. Don't know where that ones going. But rest assured I am back and writing and any and all praise, criticism, hurtful comments, flaming bottles, rocks through windows and riots are welcome!

Now on with the show.

* * *

Purpose.

For centuries man had yearned to know what their purpose was in this life. Even now, when they were beyond number and they stretched far out into the vast reaches of space, they were still divided in their ideas of purpose. Some believe that they make their own purpose, that they must work and slave to achieve, to be significant. Others believe in a divine presence that created us and directs us, and will one day join him in heaven. Still others believe that we have no purpose, we are here to simply live and die.

But there are also those who hold to more...sinister ideas. Some believe that mankind is to be a slave to the will of demonic creatures, abominations not even seen in nightmares. That pain, sickness, famine, all these things are gifts and those afflicted should feel honored to be chosen for such an event.

And then there are those that believe we are to become these monsters. Not much is known about these...cults, for they are few, and they are very secretive. But they do exist, for there are traces, most in the form of the victims of their rituals. Bodies found slashed and torn, as though trying to find a way to unify them into a some grotesque animal. The culprits have never been caught. But the events are few, and wide spread across the worlds, so it is understandable how the local authorities never made the connection. There where others who did.

But such thoughts were a long way away, if in fact they ever entered, the young mind of Philip J. Fry. No as he sat in the gun turret dome, watching the stars race by, the only thought that crossed his mind was the seduction of a purple haired cyclops.

It is important to note, that when Tauranga Leela is on Fry's mind, it is not always sex he is thinking about. But Fry is a man, and is allowed to indulge every now and again.

_Roses. _he thought. _Every girl likes roses. But then again, its kind of cliche. Hmmmm...fireworks? I could talk to Bender, maybe he can make a few calls to get some really good ones. It might work..._

The comm flashed, and an image of the women who dominated a large part of Fry's mind came on screen. 'Fry, get to the bridge. And walk up Amy, she disabled the danm comms unit in her cabin again.'

'Sure thing Cap.' Fry said as he slid down the ladder. He walked down the corridor and knocked on Amy's door. Receiving no answer, he punched in the access code and the door slid open.

'Amy?' Fry entered the room slowly talking note that Amy was not in her bed. _Maybe she's down in engineering. _

As he turned to go, the washroom door opened, and out walked a very wet, very naked Amy.

They both froze for a second. Then Amy gave a very uncharacteristic shriek before leaping back through the door and closing it.

'FRY!' she screamed angrily 'WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN HERE?!'

Fry, whose face was red from embarrassment, or maybe the stray thought that crossed his mind at the sight of Amy's body, replied in a sheepish voice 'Leela sent me down here to wake you up. Said you disabled the comm unit in your room again.'

'I DIDN'T DISABLE IT! I WAS TAKING A SHOWER!' she shouted back. 'GET OUT!'

'Sure thing Amy.' Fry replied, scurrying out the door. 'Sorry.'

Fry quickly slid out the door before it slid shut behind him. He leaned against it for a second, trying to get the image and lustful thoughts out of his head. _Not a good thing to be thinking about, Fry my boy._ He said to himself. Amy may be a friend, she may be dating his buddy Kiff, he may be completely and totally in love with Leela, but man does she have a killer body.

Briefly considering that maybe he should take a cold shower, the idea was shot down when Leela's voice rang out of the ships speakers.

'Fry! Amy! Where are you guys?!'

Fry walked to the comm on the wall and punched the button. 'I'm in the crew quarters. Amy was taking a shower, that's why she couldn't respond.'

There was a pause. 'Alright. Is Amy with you now?'

'Sure am.' Amy said, suddenly popping up behind Fry, causing him to jump.

'Okay. Fry, get down to the loading dock. We're approaching the Nimbus and I want that cargo ready to disembark the moment we land. The less time we spend on board the better. Amy, check the Communications Array. I can't seem to raise them, and I want to know if the problem is on our side of the line. Then tell the Marines to be ready to go. I'm not liking what I'm seeing out there.'

'Aye Aye, Cap.' said Amy. She flicked the comm off.

There were a few moments of awkward silence as fry shuffled his feet nervously. 'Look Amy I... I'm really sorry...about...you know...'

'Oh...it's alright Fry.' Amy Smirked. 'Besides, its not like it's anything you haven't seen before. Now, we got a job to do, so get movin.'

'Yes ma'am.' Fry flashed his silly smile before heading towards the ladder that led to the cargo bay.

* * *

**Planet Express Ship Explorer, Under Doop Military act 431a, your vessel is hereby ordered to change course to heading 211 and rendevo with Doop Star Ship (DSS) Valor for emergency supply and troop transport to M113. Locate Nimbus, if possible,** **and deliver cargo. **

**Danger Risk : Very High. Long Range Fighter escort will be provided to destination.**

**Damage to Property or Personal onboard will be fully reimbursed.**

**Information on destination and target to follow:**

**The Ghoul Stars**

**1003 Light Years from Earth**

**Currently under Exploration**

**Status: 93% Uncharted Space. **

**2 systems discovered containing planets with atmospheres suitable for human habitation: M113, M355.**

**M355 currently under DOOP Military Control, Center of Operations for all exploration**

**DSS Nimbus sent to M113 reported contact with hostile and previously unknown alien organicism. Requested troop supplies and support units. Communication lost at 1541 Earth time. Status Unknown.**

Leela again read the report that had come in a week ago for about the hundredth time. She was frustrated as hell at being pulled away from here schedule yet again because that idiot in command of the Nimbus couldn't tell his ass form a hole in the ground. Odds were the hostile aliens were nothing more that innocent animals and he just wanted to blow stuff up. As for lack of check in, he probably broke there Array. It's not like he hasn't one it before.

But when the came into view of the Nimbus she could tell something was wrong. There was no comm chatter at all. The long range comms array could be broken, but that wouldn't affect communications with ground units or fighters. Speaking of which...

Leela pulled up the commands and signaled their fighter escort. 'Bandit Leader, Bandit Leader, do you copy? Over.'

'Loud and clear, Explorer.' replied the Squadron Leader.

'Do you guys have anything on your sensors? I've got nothing but static coming fro her when I try to hail her. I've also got a reading on a massive debris field around her, but I'm not sure exactly what it's from.'

There was a pause while the squadron relayed back and forth their individual readings.

'Negative on heat signature. And we don't know anything about the debris is either What the hell is going on?'

'I wish I knew Captain.' Leela replied. 'I wish I knew.'

Two of the three fighters increased speed, pulling ahead of the PE ship and coming into her forward view port.

As they got closer, the small fleet of ships came into the Nimbus's hulking shadow and Leela was able to get a good look at her as she orbited M113. What she saw surprised her.

The ship looked...completely fine. There was no scorch marks, no hull breaches, no signs of a fight on her.

Suddenly the fighter on her starboard side banked radically and burst into flame, flinging itself straight at the Explorer. Leela had absolutely no time to react as the spacecraft slammed into her ship causing it to wheel sharply to the left. Leela struggled with the controls but they were almost non-responsive, and as she tried to stabilize her ship she could see she was rapidly approaching the Nimbus. If she didn't do something fast they would be a skid mark on her hull.

Leela slammed her hand down on the alarm button, and bells rang out all along the ship.

'This is the Captain, all hands, brace for impact!'

Down in the cargo bay, Fry suddenly found himself against the far wall of the PE ship with no clear memory of how he got there.

He struggled to his feet but was knocked over again as the ship bucked violently. _The hell is going on?_

As he struggled to reach a comm, the alarm bells started ringing, and suddenly Leelas voice rang over the ship 'All hands, brace for impact!'

_Aw shit..._Fry thought as he was slammed yet again into another wall.

* * *

Amy was already strapping herself in along with the platoon of Colonial Marines onboard when Leela's warning came around. The violent jerking was all it took to tell her something was wrong, and she wasted no time in getting the soldieries squared away before she to took her seat.

Back on the bridge did her best to keep the ship from becoming mush on the Nimbus's wind shield. A quick glance at the ships layout told her the ships port and aft wing were no longer attached to the ship. Things were looking bad.

'Explorer!' The voice of one of the Bandit piolets came over the comm.

'Not a good time right now if you didn't notice!' she hollered back.

'No listen! The Nimbus's docking bay is straight ahead! If you gun your engines you should be able to make it inside. The blast shields will drop as soon as you get in, but you got to do it now!'

'Are you crazy?! We'll bounce around in there like a kid in a ballpit!'

'Either that or become a hood ornament for the Nimbus.'

'Shit.' said Leela.

With a quick command she powered up the engines and the ship shot forward.

Amy felt a sudden shift in propulsion and realized the ship was gaining speed. What the hell was Leela doing?

Fry was pushed up against the rear of the cargo bay his eyes in the back of his skull at the sudden increase in G-force. _Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit OH SHIT!_

The PE ship slammed into the floor of the docking bay, and bounced up slamming into the docking bay ceiling, before plummeting down again. Leela threw the controls into reverse, trying to lessen their speed before they hit the wall. It was enough. The ship collided with the docking bay wall bending metal and denting it severely, but it held. The PE ships nose warped in on itself.

Leela found herself pitched forward in her chair, her head barely touching her consol. As she loosened the straps to her chair, she tried the comm for Fry and Amy. 'Anyone alive down there? Fry? Amy?'

'Leela.' Amy's voice crackled over static. 'Are you okay? What happened?'

'I'm fine Amy. One of the fighters blew up and collided with us. I'm not sure why. How is everyone down there?'

'Well the Marines look a little banged up, but then again, they're Marines. They always look like they just went through hell.'

'That's cause we usually have.' One of them stated in the background.

'Anyway, no ones dead here if that's what your asking.'

'And Fry?'

'Fry...Oh no Fry. He was in the Cargo Bay. It doesn't have any strap-ins!'

Leela was already off and out the door before Amy could finish her sentence. Amy was yelling her sentence, as she to headed towards the cargo bay, both in a panic. Leela, because Fry was her best friend and she didn't want to lose him. Amy, for reasons she didn't quite understand.

One of the Marines watched her rush off. 'What about us?'

Both women reached the cargo bay entrance at the same time. Leela slid down first, followed quickly by Amy.

They both gasped. The cargo bay was a complete mess. Crates were smashed open, MREs spilled all over. The marines assault rifles where scattered, ammunition littered the floor. There was no sign of Fry. Along the wall was a tear revealing the flight deck of the Nimbus. Hull breach.

'Oh God, I hope he didn't get sucked out into space.' said Leela.

A stifled groan caused both of them to look up. There strapped to the wall, was Fry, about ten feet off the deck. He had used the bays cargo straps to secure himself to the wall, but now he was drooping off the wall the straps pulled taunt by his weight.

'Fry!' Amy called, 'Are you okay?'

'Oh I'm grand.' Fry responded weakly. 'Would you mind getting me down?'

They sighed in relief. 'Hold on Fry. We'll get some of the marines over here to cut you down.'

'Ugh. To bad Bender's not here. Then he could just shimmy on up and cut me down.'

Leela rolled her eye. 'Bender decided suddenly that it was some strange new robot holiday. So that probably means that right about now he's at a strip club, drinking, or both.'

Fry chuckled slightly. 'I'll go with option C.'

'Amy,' Leela turned around. 'See if you can get some of those men and a corpsman down her to get Fry out of that get up. I'll go assess the damage done to our ship form the crash. After you do that, get up to the bridge and try to raise the fighter escort. I'm sure they're worried about us.'

'Sure thing, Leela. Don't worry Fry, we'll get you outta there in no time.' Fry just nodded.

Corporal James Healy was attempting to get a fellow marine out of his chair when Amy ran up. Turns out the locking mechanism had jammed and the strap bindings were harder to cut through then they seemed.

'Uh...Excuse me...Sergeant?' she asked hesitantly.

'It's Corporal, actually, but that's alright. What can I do for you?'

'I need your help. One of our crew is stuck in the cargo bay in the lift straps. We can't get him out of there alone, and we don't know how injured he might be.'

'We can help you.' the corporal responded. 'How many men do you need?'

'Two or three should do.'

The corporal glanced around. 'BREMER! COCKRELL! You two are with me. Doc, you too.'

Two men rushed forward, followed by a man with a helmet that had a red cross on it.. 'Where we going, boss?'

'Rescue mission. A civilian has gotten himself into trouble, so we're gonna fish him out. Follow me.' Turning to Amy, he motioned for her to lead the way.

After leading the Marines to the Cargo Bay and leaving them with the predicament of getting the young redhead down from the wall, Amy made her way to the bridge . She was shocked to find it in surprisingly good shape. The window was cracked, there were wires hanging and sparking from the ceiling, but other than that, it wasn't to damaged. She prayed the Comms Array was still intact, otherwise they wouldn't be able to signal the ships still outside and she'd have her work cut out for her fixing it.

She keyed the commands and picked up the mic. 'PES Explorer to Bandit Squadron, do you copy? Over.'

She got nothing but static back.

'Bandit Squadron, Bandit Squadron, this is PES Explorer, do you read me? Over.'

Nothing but static.

Amy pulled up the shipboard comms and hailed Leela. 'Captain? Leela? You there?'

'I'm here Amy. Did you get hold of the fighter escort?'

'No. Our comms array must have been damaged in the crash. I have nothing but static.'

'Impossible. I'm looking at the array right now. It seems to be the only part of the ship that isn't beat up.'

Amy thought for a moment. 'Could be the connection between the array and the network. If the wires came loose, it would explain why we don't have ship to ship communication. How's the rest of the ship look?'

'Not good.' Leela replied. 'Our nose is completely decimated, the starboard and aft fins are gone, and the port is just hanging on. The engine rooms a mess, there are four hull breaches that I've counted so far, and the ships AI seems to believe it's currently in a karaoke bar in Japan. I had to completely shut down the system to get it to stop singing 'We Are Young' in Japanese.'

Amy chuckled at that. 'How about the engines themselves? How are they?'

'Fourteen out of the twenty six propulsion cones are damaged beyond repair. Another five are leaking engine coolant and dark matter fuel all over the place. I hate to say it, but I don't think we're going anywhere for a while.'

Amy sighed. 'So what are we going to do?'

'First things first. We're going to get everyone off this ship. Have the Marines gather what equipment they can from the cargo bay. After that, we'll get some of the Nimbus's flight deck crew to help us start putting this tub back together.'

'Gotcha Leela. I'll go check on Fry and see if they got him down, and tell the other soldiers what's going on.'

Amy flicked the comm off and headed down to the cargo bay.

* * *

In the darkest corners of the flight deck. Two eyes watched the still ship with interest. There was meat in that metal container. It could smell it. It's eyes spied the holes that doted the ships hull, and slowly, it moved forward.


End file.
